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Sunday, November 08, 2015

The Tamarack Jacket from Grainline Studio

When the email for the Tamarack Jacket from Grainline Studios popped up in my email, I perked up because it looked like the perfect pattern to use for the Kanthra Quilt I bought last winter.


I caught the Kanthra Quilt fever from Stitchers Guild when they bought these beautiful quilts and made some amazing garments. Of course, I was at the tail end of the train/trend, but it took me a minute to figure out how to use the quilt in the very corporate life I was living.

When the seasons changed, I packed it and the coordinating wool away but it was always at the edges of my brain. The Tamarack Jacket brought it back to the forefront especially since this more casual style works for my lifestyle now.

Pattern Alterations ~
My challenge with this pattern line is that the largest size is an 18. Now that I'm a little smaller I can fit this pattern with minor alterations.  However, if you wear a larger pattern size (26-32), you will need to make considerably more alterations than I did for this to work for you.  Also, I have a "C" cup bustline so I didn't make any alterations to the bustline but if you are larger busted, you will definitely need to make some changes.

  1. The alterations I made were to give me a little more ease in the waist and hip area.
  2. Both the front and back piece were lengthened 2" at the lengthen/shorten line because I wanted to insure that the jacket covered my backside.
  3. I added a 1/2 inch to the side seam - starting at the underarm and going out the 1/2 inch merging into the side curve.
  4. I moved the pocket placement line higher cause I thought the pockets were kind of low.
  5. I changed the pockets from welt to patch because the jacket is unlined and I don't like the welt pocket bags just hanging loose on the inside of the jacket.

After measuring the sleeve biceps, I decided that I wanted to add a little just to insure that I had enough ease in the finished sleeve. So I added a 1/2" to either side by starting at the underarm seam and adding it through the body of the sleeve merging into the side seam.

As you can see from my pattern pieces above, I kind of free hand drew the alterations onto the pattern piece. I then went back and measured to make sure that I only added a 1/2" to each side.

One final flat measurement of all the pieces and I was ready to cut into this:


Construction of the Jacket ~
The actual jacket construction is simple. It is a basic jacket with only hooks and eyes for closures. However, if you quilt your fabric and make your own binding for the jacket's finishing ~ those are the time consuming processes and the new techniques to be learned.

Since I used the quilt I skipped the "quilting" step but I wanted a substantial binding so I made my own from a stashed remnant of black ponte. If anything was a challenge during the construction process, this was it.  The ponte did not hold a press well so it was a slow go to get it made.

And being the rebel that I am, I did not apply the binding the way the pattern suggests. I stitched the binding onto the front at the first fold. Then I pulled the binding to the back, opened it up and pinned it to the back of the jacket.


On the front I stitched the binding close to the edge and using my duck billed scissors cut off the extra binding to clean finish the inside of the jacket. Sewing the ponte binding on as the pattern suggested would have made the binding to thick. The way I did it gave it a substantial finish but it didn't make the edges too heavy.

The pattern has great instructions on how to miter the corners. Following this some of my edges turned out great and some didn't but that was totally user error! Once the binding is added, you sew the sleeve in, then sew the side seams down and you're done! 

Here is a picture of the finished jacket on Lulu ~



Please remember that Lulu is now bigger than I am and the jacket meets in the front on me.  I'm trying to decide if I want to add some kind of toggles to the front of the jacket, as well as, some buttons on my patch pockets. Though I'm on the fence on that one since I love how the pockets blend into the fabric.

I also cut a pencil skirt out of black ponte to go with the jacket...cause believe it or not but I don't own one. As soon as my photographer, aka my daughter, is around, I will have pictures of me wearing the jacket up on the blog.

Next on my cutting table is the Grainline Studio Morris Jacket which thankfully I own the paper pattern for...cause as much as I wanted to make the Tamarack Jacket...I.can't.stand.taping.pattern.pieces.together.

...as always more later!





37 comments:

  1. If you ever make anymore grainline PDFs there's usually a copy shop version included that will print on large format paper at staples or kinkos

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  2. Gosh his turned out fabulous. Worth the pain of pressing the Ponte. I washed some lovely black Ponte today for a pencil skirt because I'm all over the map of what I want/need to sew right now. g

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    1. Yes it was worth it! What did you decide to do with your black ponte?

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  3. Love the jacket style and especially love the fabric!

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  4. Love it! I'm not sure how I feel about adding toggles to aid closure, but I like the pockets the way they are and would leave off the buttons.

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    1. Not sure about the toggles yet but I hate not having something to close the jacket. After letting the jacket hang, I'm not going to add anything to the pockets. I like how they are hiding in plain sight.

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  5. I love your jacket! I can't wait to see it paired with your black skirt.

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  6. Great marriage of pattern and fabric. I can picture some of those frog loop closure thingees on the front - would lend it a very oriental feel. I'm now wondering if this jacket is my style, or if I'm just very taken with yours!

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    1. I think this style is complimentary to a lot of different people which is the beauty of the pattern!

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  7. I remember the quilt talk and looking at them online too. I restrained myself, thank goodness cos I sure have enough to sew up already. I don't recall seeing any as subtle in colour as yours. It is very nice and it has come up a treat in the pattern you have chosen. Perfect pairing.

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    1. Vicki - I looked through a lot of quilts before I found one that I thought would work! You are right there are ALOT of bright and vibrant versions out there. I actually bought this one from a link that Ruth from Core Couture linked to on her site.

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  8. I love your jacket! The pockets are cool - I like how they blend in with the bodice.

    Re: Morris jacket... do please check out the feedback on PatternReview :-) I've made one already (I do plan more!) and like me a few other sewists found the shoulders to be pretty wide. I also have found that on my body the shoulder seam-line seems to fall quite far forward - and a little more so at the SP than at the SNP.

    Also, I wish that I'd read Jen's sewalong posts first - as I used a Ponte and the small amount of vertical stretch causing some sagging for me along my front hem and the CF/along the opening. Jen recommended fusing a Knit fusible to the whole of the front bodice pieces for Ponte (or 4-way stretch fabrics) to stop that sagging from happening.

    On my Morris I also decided to combine the separate hem facing pieces along the bottom into 1 piece. It helped me a lot I feel to eliminate bulk at the bottom of the side-seams where the facing is stitched to the main body :-)

    Good luck with your Morris!

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  9. I've been on the fence about this pattern so I can't wait to see it on you.

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  10. Beautiful! Love how the patch pockets blend right in... I wouldn't put any buttons on them unless they tend to pooch out or something of that sort. My son/daughter in law are possibly going to India soon.... may have to put a bug in their ear. The pattern is just my cup of tea too.

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    1. I bought a twin quilt and have enough left to make a vest but I think I'm going to use the reverse side. Definitely get one but I would give them a lot of "suggestions" on what you want cause there are a lot of them out there. Me I would be asking for a silk sari! I've always wanted one of those to make something from.

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  11. I LOVE this jacket Carolyn! ! What fun you'll have pairing this beauty with other pieces .

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    1. Diana - you should make one. I'm sure you would come up with an awesome version!

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  12. I think you chose wisely in purchasing your Kantha quilt which makes for a very successful, wearable garment. Some of those quilts are pretty wild with high contrast making them difficult for jacket/coat making. You'll get lots of wear out of this stylish, unique jacket. Karen

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  13. I love your jacket. I've been on the fence about that pattern - but you might have changed my mind. Very nice creation
    Marciae

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    1. Hey Marcia - it took some for me to buy one cause it is an investment but I'm glad I had it because it really was perfect for the pattern.

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  14. I love the jacket. Great use of that quilt.

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  15. I didn't realize it was completed. Nicely done and Quick, Quilted,jacket.

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    1. Michelle - you've got me looking for dashiki fabric so I'm glad you like it!

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  16. Looks awesome! I bet it'll look great on you.

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  17. Awesome jacket. Great fabric!

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  18. Beautiful! The quilted fabric is so lovely and perfect for the project.

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  19. Oh wow! This is very inspirational! I absolutely love that you used that beautiful quilt!

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  20. What a great result with some gorgeous fabric. It will be warm and light and thank goodness you finally got a black pencil skirt to go with it!!

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  21. You are goping to get so many compliments on this jacket!!!

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  22. What a great jacket for a casual work environment! Plus it was easy to make and using the Kanthra quilt ( love the look but I resisted) makes it really unique.

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  23. Amazing post dear! You have a wonderful blog:)
    What about following each other on Instagram, Bloglovin, Twitter?.. :)

    www.bloglovin.com/blog/3880191

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  24. This is beautiful! I really love it!

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